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Billy Joel at BB&T: Five best things!

A Facebook friend referred to Billy Joel, I assume in a derogatory manner, as an oldies act. I guess that’s a reference to the fact that Joel tours on the strength of his back catalogue, which dates back 40 years. And true, the “Piano Man” didn’t play anything at his show at BB&T Center that was younger than 20 years. So…

Whatever!

That catalogue might be old, but it’s exhaustive and ageless. He played for almost two hours and there were tons of hits and quality rarities he didn’t touch while still having a definitively complete show. Joel’s mix of pop, R&B, rock and classical might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but enough are drinking it to pack out that place last night. And I love his attitude, which is self-deprecating while obviously enjoying being Billy Joel. I would enjoy being Billy Joel, at least the talented, able-to-make-mini-symphonies-with-my-fingers-and-hit-the-high-notes-on-“The Longest Time” parts.
With no further ado, my five favorite moments of last night’s show:

 “The Longest Time,” on which Joel recorded all of the harmony parts, is stunning live, because you get an appreciation of how hard it is to sing. And it’s a long song, “almost all vocals,” as he said, with nothing to hide behind. He gave a disclaimer that the band doesn’t do it much, so that if they made a mistake, that’s why. Turns out they didn’t need it. And I remembered how sweet the words are – “I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time.” Aww.
 The aforementioned song was the first of many points in the show where Joel made musical reference to either his or someone else’s work in clever and poignant ways. The group started singing Frankie Lyman’s “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” for a couple of lines and then stopped when he said “That’s not my song!” and went into “The Longest Time.” I love hearing artists poke around the musical bones that inspired, maybe, their work. He also included a sweet piano line note from “Allentown” in “Where’s The Orchestra,” the piano ending of “Layla” before “Don’t Ask Me Why,” and a rousing chorus of “When The Saints Go Marching In” into “River of Dreams” (the last one could have gone on all night, as far as I’m concerned.)
 The encore, a three-shot of “You May Be Right,” “It’s Still Rock N’ Roll” and “Only The Good Die Young,” which was the last song. I never really cared for that one, but Joel put so much bite live into the seductive dismissal of young Virginia and what he sees as her hypocrisy, with some truths up in there. I think I liked it for the first time, because maybe live I heard it for the first time. Does that make sense?
 “Vienna,” which I never realized wasn’t ever a single, sounded reassuring, imploring and soaring, with images of the city flashed on the screen like a travelogue.
 The way the screen showed Joel’s dancing hands like a live painting as he played “Pressure.”